


To Be Honest...

by Tamyou



Series: Harry Potter Tumblr Prompts/Drabbles [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drabble, Drabble Collection, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kinda, M/M, Pansy Needs to Stop Butting Into Other People's Business, Past Child Abuse, Post-War, Potions Accident, Pre-Slash, Truth Serum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-02-29 14:39:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18780298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamyou/pseuds/Tamyou
Summary: "Pansy? Why would she want to slip you a truth potion?"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one is not based on any prompts. I hope you enjoy.

_There_ , Draco thought triumphantly as he spotted his target. There, all alone at the farthest, shabbiest table near the Herbology section, Potter sat with his face determinedly buried in a thick and dusty old book, looking quite sullen and displeased.  
  
_Interesting_ , was the next thought that went through Draco's head as he watched his past rival. What on earth could make Harry Potter, the entire school's darling and oh-so-admired saviour look so sour?

A sly smirk slowly spread over Draco's lips and one delicate eyebrow rose as he caught the opportunity, deciding in a split second to have some fun with the Wizarding World number one hero. After all, ever since Potter and himself had realized they would be sharing a dorm during their eighth year, the two had decided on a tentative truce. A truce that since then had turned into a bloodied, ruthless prank war, into an odd kind of friendship, and honestly, who could blame Draco for seeing a sulky Potter and taking the chance to tease?  
  
And so, certain in his logic and justifications, Draco schooled his delighted expression into a teasing smirk, and slowly sauntered towards the table, stopping a few steps away from the seat Potter was occupying as he leaned his hip against the dark, worn wood, crossing his arms while he waited for Potter to notice him.  
  
It took longer than Draco had hoped, although the subtle tightening of Potter's shoulders made him suspect the shorter boy had noticed, and was simply attempting to ignore him. _Too bad for him,_ Draco sneered to himself. _I'm going to stand right here all day if necessary._  
  
His patience soon proved worthwhile as eventually, Potter made a small noise of annoyance and put his book down with a dull thump before two annoyed green eyes slowly rose to meet his own, watching him warily and narrowing in suspicion.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Potter was obviously trying for that usual mockingly harsh tone he had grown fond of using against Draco in their daily banters, but all that came out was a quiet, bitter murmur. Draco's eyebrow rose higher, eyes glinting in interest.  
  
"I just came to find out why our oh-so-wonderful hero is sitting here in this dusty library all by himself, sulking." He drawled lightly, eyes gleaming as he secretly delighted in the scowl that scrunched up Potter's face in response to his taunts. "Where are all of your friends, Potter? Are they the reason you're here, _sulking_?"  
  
Potter's sour expression stayed pinched for a few more short seconds, before the scowl suddenly turned alarmingly blank and clipped words tumbled from his mouth, as if out of his control. "My friends were in the common room when I left. Yes, they are."  
  
Draco let out a high, delighted laugh. " _Yes_?" He asked, obviously enjoying himself. "Yes, are you sulking, Potter? _Sulking?_ "  
  
Harry gritted his teeth.  
  
"Yes." He forced out.  
  
"And why would that be, may I ask?" Draco said, a smirk dancing over the corner of his mouth. Harry seemed to struggle for a moment, as if fighting not to talk to him, but then-  
  
"I didn't want to be around people."  
  
Draco's smirk faltered. Mighty, famous Potter, not wanting to be around people? Not wanting to be surrounded by their admiring, vacant eyes? And what was it with that forced manner in which he had answered? It didn't seem like him. For some unfathomable reason, he obviously didn't want to say those things that he did, or give in to Draco's teasing or the easy banter than had become their routine. Why wasn't he mocking him back?

Odd.  
  
"You didn't... why?" Draco asked the first thing he could think of, his tone on the verge of demanding. Something didn't add up, and Draco didn't like not knowing things. Especially things that had to do with Potter.  
  
"Th-they were taking advantage of me." Potter blurted out, his face twisting as if saying those words caused him pain.  
  
Draco paused, his mouth opening around a soundless word. _Taking advantage?_ What the hell did that even mean? Draco must have misheard. Or misunderstood. And yet, watching potter sit there, looking utterly miserable and lonely, made something uncomfortable sit heavily inside Draco's stomach. A sort of niggling feeling that he recognized as guilt and - Merlin forbid - _sympathy_ , started twisting inside his guts. Slowly, not entirely sure what he was doing or why, he asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"N-N-Ye-" Potter struggled. "I- I don't know." He eventually whispered, biting his lower lip, as if surprised himself by his answer.  
  
Draco hesitated. "If you say that you'd rather I leave you alone, I would, but..."  
  
Potter opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it again, dropping his eyes back to his dusty book.  _Potions and Poisons - How to Counter and how to Conquer,_  Draco noticed briefly.  
  
"...Stay." Was the quiet whisper.  
  
So Draco did.


	2. Chapter 2

"Truth potion? Really?" Draco exclaimed, causing Madame Pince to shoot an angry glare at him from her desk by the entrance. Hissing in annoyance, Potter looked around shiftily as he signaled Draco to stay quiet.  
  
"Yes, really. I can't lie, remember?" He whispered urgently. "And be quiet, please. I don't want everyone else to know. I don't want them to make me answer personal things. I don't like it."  
  
There is was again, that mechanical way of speaking, the filterless phrasing that could only be the result of a truth potion. _It can't be one of the strongest ones_ , Draco noted, thinking back to his private lessons with Severus Snape, back when earning an O in Potions was his greatest concern. Definitely not nearly as strong as Veritaserum, as that would be illegal to give without a Ministry permit. And judging by the way Potter seemed to be in pain every time he tried to not answer a question or even straight out lie, Draco would guess that whatever serum it was, it was not even perfectly brewed. _Too many chrysanthemum petals, I'd wager._  
  
"So who did this?" He asked, dropping into the chair beside Potter, their knees accidently bumping. He quickly shifted away, hoping his face didn't show the way his heart skipped a beat. Instead, he fixed Potter with an expectant stare. He hoped Potter had any clues or any idea of who it was that gave him the potion. That would definitely make things easier, as they could find out exactly what kind of potion it was. Then, Draco would calculate out how long it would take to wear off, or - assuming how badly this was brewed, which would make any typical symptoms pointless - even brew an antidote.

He didn't even stop to wonder why he cared so much.  
  
Hesitant, Potter didn't answer immediately. He chewed on his lips like a dog worrying a bone, his fingers twitching over the cover of  _Potions and Poisons._ His eyes kept darting between the yellowing pages and Draco's face nervously.

"Don't freak out," he murmured eventually, giving in to the potion and Draco's inquiring stare. "It was Parkinson."

The moment the words were out, Potter's green eyes focused on Draco's face, watching him warily as if he was unsure of his reaction. Not that Draco could blame him. Pansy was, after all, one of Draco's closest friends. He would have been just as wary if it were Granger or Weasley that he had to accuse of a thing like that to Harry's face.

However, being Pansy's best friend, Draco knew exactly how far Pansy could go when she wanted something. Still, that didn't explain why she would target Potter of all people.

Draco's eyebrows shot up.  
  
"Pansy? Why would she want to slip you a truth potion?"  
  
Potter bit his lower lip hard, evidently trying to stop the words from slipping out. He looked so distressed that Draco immediately regretted asking, guilt making his stomach flip. "It's alright, you don't have to tell me-" he tried, raising his palms in surrender, but it was too late. The questioned had been already asked.  
  
"Two months ago Ron mentioned the Dursleys in the mixed common room. My relatives." Harry blurted, the colour draining from his face at the words he couldn't stop. Draco froze, his hands falling to hang uselessly at his sides as Harry continued in the same monotone voice. "I told Ron I didn't want to see them again if I could help it. I hate them. I'm terrified of them. I didn't want to look at them and remember how they starved me and locked me away. I didn't want him to mention them again. Parkinson heard Ron ask about them. She likes gossip. She wanted to know. She asked me who they were. I didn't tell her. Said it was none of her business. She kept asking and asking and asking and asking... and I wouldn't tell her. I thought she'd let it go. She didn't. This morning, she slipped some kind of truth potion into my pumpkin juice. Hermione noticed. Parkinson tried to ask then, but she didn't manage to. Hermione realized what happened. She didn't know why Parkinson did it though, I don't think. Hermione and Ron thought it was a joke. They teased me. They thought it was just a prank. They don't know why I ran."  
  
The second he'd finished his forced confession, Potter shut his mouth with an audible click. He drew in a trembling breath, and was paler than the pages of the book he's been reading before Draco showed up. Draco thought he seemed alarmingly close to throwing up. Shakily, Draco sat back, eyes wide and mouth open as he stared at Potter. Horrified, he tried to find something appropriate to say.  
  
"Merlin's sagging balls, Potter," he finally breathed, running a hand through his perfectly styled hair and earning himself a look of surprise from the other boy. It was perhaps not his most articulate choice of words, he reckoned, but at least it manahed to shock Potter out of the beginning of a panic attack. "What a story."  
  
"Not a story." Potter replied immediately, still looking extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed, although the colour was slowly coming back to his cheeks.  
  
"You- I- you know I didn't mean it like that." Draco swallowed, licking his lips nervously. "It's just... I never thought someone like you would have that kind of, er, problems, at home. I mean, I always thought..."  
  
"You thought I was a spoiled prince like you."  
  
Draco winced at the brutal honesty. "Yeah." He chuckled.  
  
"You are not going to tell anyone."  
  
Draco's gaze shot up to eye Potter sharply, ready to protest against the insult. The words died in his throat though when he noticed how once again, Potter seemed to be surprised by the truth of his own words, as he watched Draco with a nervous smile. _That was not a question_ , Draco realized, the corner of his mouth twitching.  
  
"Of course not." Draco's grey eyes sparkled with amusement as he huffed with mock indignation, lifting his chin. "I'm also not going to ask you anymore questions." He added, sobering a little when he noticed Potter was still not completely reassured. "At least, not until this wears off or we find an antidote. I will also make sure no one else would come near you - especially Pansy - but, after this is over, I want to talk to you. This... well, you need to talk, Potter. It might as well be to me."  
  
Potter stared at him as if he'd grown another head. "Why?"  
  
"First of all, because it wouldn't be fair." Draco shrugged again. "You can't lie. And even tough any Slytherin would have had an aneurysm at the mere thought, I am not going to take advantage of that. Second, I sort of know what it's like, you know. When... when someone that's supposed to protect and love you, doesn't."

The silence that fell between them after that admittion was heavy, almost physically suffocating. Neither one of them dared to move as the meaning of Draco's hesitant words registered in Potter's mind.  
  
Potter swallowed. "I was supposed to be in Slytherin, you know." he murmured eventually, his quiet voice like a scream breaking the silence. Despite his best efforts, Draco couldn't fully hide the flinch he gave at the sound.  
  
"Really?" he asked just as quietly, mildly surprised. "Why weren't you then?"  
  
Potter smiled warily. "Because of you." He admitted somewhat sheepishly, shrugging. "Everyone warned me of how all Dark wizards come from Slytherin. And then I met you. And you were an arrogant little sod. You insulted my first friend. You were Sorted into Slytherin. So I didn't want to be in Slytherin. I asked the Hat not to."  
  
Draco scowled, raising an eyebrow. "'An arrogant little sod'?" He repeated slowly, looking a touch offended. He stared at Potter for a long moment, grey eyes meeting mischevious green, and a slow smirk spread across his lips at the grin Potter was not even trying to hide. "Alright, I'm going to allow that." He admitted. "I really was a tad conceited back then."  
  
"More than a tad."  
  
Draco narrowed his eyes, shoving at Potter's shoulder and eliciting a bark of laughter from the other boy. "Your honesty is brutal, Potter."  
  
"Can't help it," he laughed again.  
  
Draco smiled. Back then, he really was an arrogant little boy. Back, when his father's words were the only truth Draco had known. He could see now how incerdibly rude he must have seemed, and truthfully, he couldn't blame Potter for not taking his offered hand. He had been so bitter about it for so long, wished for Potter's attention - be it positive or negative, he didn't care - for most of his teenage years. Who would have guessed that now, after the war, after everything they had gone through, all the deaths and the horrors and the animousity between them - that he and Potter could become friends?  
  
Who would have guessed he, Draco Malfoy, ex-Death Eater and former rival, could ever make Harry Potter laugh so easily?  
  
In all the years Draco had known him, Potter was always one to wear his heart on his sleeve. He could never hide his feelings, was always so easy to read, if one only bothered to pay attention. Yet he had never spoken as honestly or as openly as he did now, with Draco. It still felt so surreal to him that of all people, Potter chose to talk to _him_. He was hiding from his friends, the people who had been by his side during the months of horror during the war. He could have hidden from Draco just as easily. Why then did he choose Draco? Why did he ask Draco to stay?  
  
He didn't realize he had voiced that question out loud until he saw Potter's face scrunch up in an internal struggle, his eyes squeezing shut as he tried to stop the words from leaving his thinly pressed lips.  
  
Draco paled. "Shit. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask that," he said quickly. "I promised not to ask any more questions. I'm sorry." He breathed, running his hand through his hair again. "I'm a really lousy friend. Shit. Sorry."  
  
Potter only shook his head, opening his eyes and looking up, green meeting grey once more.  
  
"I asked you to stay." Potter whispered, and his eyes were gleaming in a way that left Draco's mouth dry, and Draco could see the exact moment Harry had given in to the potion. "I asked... because I trust you. I trust you wouldn't use this against me. And, to be honest... I also think I want us to be more."

"More?" Draco croaked.

"More."

"I- yeah. Alright." Draco breathed, his hand trembling slightly as he ran it again through his hair. He gave Harry a weak smile. "More is good."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me at [tumblr](http://tamyourue.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Reviews are food for a writer's soul.


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